


Six People and a Zoom Call

by edenofalltrades



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: F/M, Long-Distance Relationship, Secret Relationship, Zoom Call
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:00:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26076826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edenofalltrades/pseuds/edenofalltrades
Summary: Quarantined like the rest of the world, Annie reflects on her relationship with Jeff during the group’s weekly zoom call.
Relationships: Annie Edison/Jeff Winger, Annie Edison/Other, Jeff Winger/Other(s)
Comments: 20
Kudos: 80





	Six People and a Zoom Call

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GothamOracle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GothamOracle/gifts).



> Hello during a random Community fanfiction, the month and day of which coincide numerically with [GothamOracle's](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GothamOracle/profile/) expulsion from a uterus. Happy expulsion day, my friend! I hope your day is as fantastic as you are! ❤️
> 
> A million thank yous to [Olpgurl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Olpgurl/profile) and taidine for beta reading and helping me stay motivated. 
> 
> Flashbacks are in italics. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Community and will not be making any profit from this story.

Troy and Abed each raised one arm toward the camera, patting their chest with the other hand to do their signature "Troy and Abed handshake”, singing in unison "Troy and Abed on a zoooom call."

"You guys are still doing that?!" Jeff sneered in typical fashion. 

"I think it's nice," Shirley cooed. 

"Yeah, Jeff, just because you're determined to stay cynical about everything it doesn't mean you have to infect the rest of us!" Britta argued before pausing to consider her word choice. "I mean... you know what I mean!"

"No Britta, enlighten me, how is my realistic attitude about the situation in any way comparable to a disease that could literally kill us all?!" Jeff snapped.

"You're just testy because you haven't been able to get your hair cut," Britta waved him off. 

Jeff pointed at his hair, combed over to the side, and much longer than the last time Annie had seen him in person back in February. "Of course I am! It's been months, Britta, months!"

Annie sat back and watched as her friends argued, wanting to get a bowl of popcorn but not wanting to miss a moment. She loved her new life in D.C. but would be lying if she said it didn't get lonely without her misfit former study group around, especially with the quarantine in place. Their Thursday night zoom calls had become one of the highlights of her week. She didn't know when the quarantine would end but at least they had this, at least they were here.

“If it’s bothering you that much, I can help you out,” Britta offered. “I cut my own hair last week and I think I did a great job!”

She turned around to show off the back of her head, which had three different lengths of hair. Britta had decided to dye her naturally blonde hair red the previous year but with no access to a salon, she had to touch it up herself and the result was a streaky mess. 

“I think I’ll wait it out, thanks,” Jeff scrunched his face. 

“Whatever,” Britta scoffed as she flipped her hair back. 

Just as Jeff opened his mouth to say something, Shirley interrupted, calling out his name in the stern, matronly way she had perfected over the years. He nodded and closed his mouth. Without the reminder, Annie was certain Jeff would make a snarky remark about Britta’s hair, something the group mutually decided she was not emotionally able to handle after being laid off from her bartending job. 

“I need this thing to be over soon. I can’t stay cooped up in one place for too long! Not after that shipwreck.” Troy changed the subject, mercifully. 

“What exactly happened?” Jeff asked, though they all knew what the answer would be. 

Troy shook his head. “You’re not ready to hear it!”

Abed nodded in agreement. “You’re really not.”

“Then stop bringing it up!” Jeff sighed, throwing his head back in exasperation. This was a weekly occurrence - Troy would bring up the shipwreck he was involved in while trying to sail around the world in Pierce’s yacht. He would allude to the “horrors” he had to endure as he slowly made his way back to Greendale but would clam up when pressed on the details. The only one who knew the full story was Abed, but everyone else knew it was hopeless trying to get him to crack. 

“Well…” Shirley said sweetly. “I think we’re all just happy that you were able to get back safely.” 

“Thank you.” Troy put his hand over his heart. When he looked back at the screen and saw Shirley looking expectantly at him he reaffirmed, “I’m not going to tell you what happened.”

“Then stop bringing it up!” Shirley grumbled, echoing Jeff’s statement from earlier. 

Annie suppressed the urge to laugh. These nights were more entertaining than any television show she could possibly watch. They were just what she needed after long days in the forensics lab, ones that felt even more stressful due to social distancing restrictions that allowed for only one person to be in the room at any given moment. 

She was also glad it was hard to tell on Zoom who was looking where at any given moment. Annie and Jeff had been secretly dating for a few months and clandestine looks during group chats was not how she wanted the rest of the group to find out. 

_Annie hadn’t originally intended to move to Washington D.C.. She had thought she would be there for the duration of her internship, then fly back home to Greendale and figure out her next move. Start applying for forensics jobs, maybe figure out the whole thing between her and Jeff._

_But then she performed at the top of her program and was encouraged by her supervisor to interview for a newly opened position… which she got. Instead of flying back to her life at Greendale, she was flying back to grab the rest of her belongings and move fully to D.C.._

_It was hard at first. Being away for a few months for an internship was one thing but living there full-time was something completely different. Her friends came through for her, though, with late night phone calls, care packages, and frequent visits._

_Jeff in particular was fantastic. Any time Annie had an anxiety attack or couldn’t sleep, any time she felt insecure at her new job or lonely in a city where she hardly knew anyone, he was only ever a phone call away, always providing the reassurance she needed. He also visited her more than anyone else in the group, flying in at least once a month to spend time with her._

_Exploring the new city didn’t seem so scary with Jeff by her side. They went to parks and museums, tried out fancy restaurants, and went to pop-up bars. With each subsequent visit, it got harder and hard to drive him back to the airport._

_Then one day in November everything changed. They were always touchy-feely - holding hands, sharing food, sitting so close they convinced people around them on several occasions that they were a couple and then having to awkwardly explain that they were just friends. Still, when he hugged her at the arrivals gate something seemed different._

_“Can’t I be happy to see my friend?” he asked, turning on that patented Winger charm of his._

_Annie knew she was playing with fire but decided to press on. “You can, you just seem… I don’t know… different.”_

_“I’m just excited to finally see this fancy new house of yours,” Jeff deflected again with a chuckle. “And I’m looking forward to not having to sleep on a futon in the living room with your roommates coming back from a party at 3 o’clock in the morning.”_

_Annie nodded as she opened the trunk of her car for him to throw in his carry-on bag. At 5’3”, even she sometimes had trouble getting comfortable in cramped airplane seats, so she couldn’t imagine how Jeff - who stood over a foot taller than her - fared._

_The drive back to her house was normal, or at least normal by their standards. She told him about her job, he told her about the latest shenanigans at Greendale Community College. They stopped by their favorite Mexican restaurant on the way over for take out. While they normally got the same thing each time, vowing to try something different the next trip, Jeff decided to change things up, getting a steak quesadilla instead of his usual salad bowl._

_“You got something different...” Annie noted after they paid and waited for their order._

_“Just wanted to try a change,” Jeff shrugged._

_Annie continued to observe him, noticing how differently he behaved. It was subtle but he seemed to sit a little closer, hold on a little longer, his gaze would linger more than usual. It was all so sudden, made stranger by the fact that he had a girlfriend. And yet every time she pressed him on it, he would just shrug and wave it off, so she just stopped asking and enjoyed the extra attention._

_By the time Saturday night came around Annie was feeling happy and light. The pop-up bar they found had a fairy tale theme - complete with soft curtains and twinkling lights. It was the sort of thing Jeff would normally tease her about but tonight he played the part of Prince Charming to a T. Several fancy drinks and a taxi ride in which they no doubt annoyed the hell out of the driver with their giggling, they plopped down on Annie’s couch._

_“I think that was the best pop up bar we’ve been to,” Annie sighed contentedly, leaning back against the couch and putting her feet in Jeff’s lap._

_“It was nice,” Jeff nodded before taking her heels off one at a time, tossing them to the ground. “You know, I’m really proud of you, Annie.”_

_Annie looked over at him, brow furrowed._

_“You’ve grown so much,” Jeff started as he ran his finger gently over the arch of her right foot. “When we met you were so young, so determined. You started out in that crappy apartment above the adult toy store and now look at you! Working for the F.B.I., living in this fancy house.”_

_“Thank you,” Annie blushed before a yawn escaped._

_Jeff chuckled as he let go of her foot. “We should get you to bed.”_

_“Too tired to get up,” Annie whined, shaking her head._

_Gently pushing her feet off his lap, Jeff stood and picked Annie up and in a bridal-style carried her to her bed, gently plopping her down on the mattress and laying down beside her. Leaning forward, he placed a soft kiss against her forehead before throwing an arm around her waist and pulling her close._

_It was the final straw for Annie. She could explain away everything else that weekend as Jeff just being Jeff, him being happy to see her after they had to cancel their last scheduled visit because she got sick and then they couldn’t reschedule for one reason or another. But there was no way she could write this off._

_“So I don’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth but…” Annie started hesitantly, trying to figure out how to phrase it. “What about Cassie?”_

_“What about Cassie?” Jeff repeated, voice low and rough._

_“I don’t think your girlfriend would appreciate you being in another woman’s bed.”_

_“Good thing she’s not my girlfriend then.” Jeff sighed, rolling over to lay on his back._

_“She’s not… what?!” Annie sat up._

_“She broke up with me a few weeks ago.” Jeff ran a finger up and down Annie’s arm._

_“What?! Why?!” He had never mentioned anything about it when they spoke on the phone… then again Annie hadn’t been exactly forthcoming with her own breakup._

_“Turns out she wasn’t too thrilled about me texting someone else all the time.” Jeff stilled._

_Annie frowned. She and Jeff had been constantly texting for years, long before he started dating Cassie. Though she had noticed an uptick ever since…_

_“Britta told me about you and David.” Jeff sat up, resting his forehead against her shoulder._

_“Is that why…” Annie thought back to the avalanche of calls and texts she got from him when David broke up with her. Always asking how her day was, suggesting things for her to watch, passing along jokes and pictures of cute animals. She never stopped to think about the reason for the increased attention because any time she would ask him about Cassie he would always say she was fine, things were great, she was okay with him getting into text conversations during date nights…_

_Jeff raised his head, looking up at her innocently as she put all of the pieces together._

_“Why were you messaging me all the time when you should have been focusing on your actual girlfriend?!” Annie backed away from Jeff as far as she could go without going over the edge of the bed._

_“Your boyfriend just broke up with you,” Jeff sighed, looking down. “I wanted to be there for you.”_

_“But you didn’t have to tank your own relationship to do it!”_

_“To be honest, I wasn’t even aware of why I was doing it at the time,” Jeff explained. “I just knew that I had to make sure you were okay. Based on our conversations it seemed like you really liked the guy and Britta told me the break up wasn’t pretty.”_

_It wasn’t. There was a lot of screaming and crying - mostly from her end._

_“But that still doesn’t explain why you drove away Cassie.”_

_“Maybe I just realized deep down she wasn’t the one for me either…” Jeff looked up at Annie through his eyelashes._

_Annie opened and closed her mouth, trying to figure out what to say. Jeff took her hand in his, pressing a soft kiss against her knuckles._

_“Look, Annie, the timing has never been right for us and it probably still isn’t, but I can’t deny my feelings for you anymore,” Jeff confessed. “I’m in. I want the ‘Annie of it all’. I…”_

_Before he could continue, Annie surged forward to kiss him with such force that it knocked him back on the bed, taking her down with him. When they pulled apart, Jeff reached up to brush an errant strand of hair behind Annie’s ear._

_“I want it, too,” Annie nodded, adding with a giggle. “I want the ‘Jeff of it all’.”_

_When Jeff kissed her, Annie felt like she was 19 again, standing outside of the Transfer Dance, full of hope. When clothes started flying, it was like all her wishes from that night were finally coming true. When he held her in his arms after, it felt like their time had come._

_Of course, nothing could be so simple. Jeff could still only fly to D.C. once a month and then the pandemic hit so after spending all of Valentine’s Day weekend in Annie’s bed, they couldn’t see each other in person anymore. They had their own one-on-one calls apart from the group chats but it wasn’t the same, not by a long shot._

“I should go, the boys have online school in the morning,” Shirley announced before closing out of the call. 

“I should go too,” Britta seconded. “The shelter called me about another cat that needs fostering so I need to be there early tomorrow.”

“Same time next week?” Troy asked, waiting for the remaining members to nod in agreement before he signed off, Abed following shortly after. 

“And then there were two,” Jeff grinned. 

“Yep,” Annie smiled. 

“How was work today?” Jeff stalled. 

“Should we maybe take this to a private chat?” There was always a risk that one of the others would still see them on, but that could be explained, this was just playing with fire. 

“I have to make a decision about my lease this week and I’ve been thinking…” Jeff trailed off. “What if I move to D.C.?”

“What?!” Annie leaned forward, unsure she heard him correctly. She long wished they could live in the same city but never thought it could happen so soon. 

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” Jeff nodded. “Greendale isn’t opening up any time soon and you have that big, empty house all to yourself. Seems like the perfect place to quarantine for a few weeks when I arrive.”

“But what about your job?”

“I’m a law professor at a community college that was on the verge of being shut down before the pandemic hit. I can and probably should look for another job.” Jeff explained with a dark laugh. “I’d rather figure out the next steps in the same city as m…”

Before Jeff could complete the thought, Abed jumped back on the call. 

“...y advice and watch Tiger King. I think you might enjoy it, Annie. It has two things you love - true crime and animals,” Jeff deflected. 

“I just wanted to say that if the two of you were trying to keep your relationship secret, you should probably be more subtle about it,” Abed said in his usual monotone. Before either could respond, he jumped back off the call. 

“I told you we should have gone to a private chat,” Annie huffed. 

“I think they would have figured something was going on when I suddenly moved to D.C.,” Jeff chuckled. “That is, if you want me to?”

“Of course I want you to!” Annie beamed. With a yawn, she added, “I should go but let’s FaceTime tomorrow? Our usual time?”

“Sounds good.”

The last thing Annie thought about as she closed her laptop was how happy she was to have Jeff move in with her and how excited she was to start figuring out the logistics for the whole thing.


End file.
